E92 M3 - Going lighter with APEX

On any track build, the wheels and tyres are one of the most important decisions you make — for performance and for the way the car looks. So it's the first thing we tackled on the E92. And if you're in the BMW scene, you already know the name: Apex Wheels. In our opinion the best aftermarket wheel supplier out there right now — design, quality and service are all top-notch — and we're proud to have them onboard for this project.

01 — THE FIRST UPGRADEWhy the wheels came first

Coming off the baseline run, the message from the car was clear: it needed something to work with. Heavy wheels on street rubber were holding back everything else, so before touching brakes, suspension or aero, we started where it makes the biggest single difference — the corners of the car.

02 — THE CHOICEApex V5-RS, 18×10 ET25

Apex have a huge range to pick from, but for this car we went with the Apex V5-RS in 18×10 ET25, finished in Racing Silver. It's a remarkably light wheel for its size, and the design is spot-on for the E92 M3 — aggressive without trying too hard. Sizing and offset were chosen to fill the arches properly and give the chassis the footprint it was always missing.

03 — THE NUMBERS13.6 kg of unsprung weight, gone

This is where it gets serious. The stock wheels that came on the car weighed in at 23.4 kg per corner. The Apex V5-RS with tyres fitted comes in at 20 kg — and that's the whole package, wheel and rubber together. That's 3.4 kg saved at every corner.

Across all four corners that's a 13.6 kg reduction in unsprung weight — and unsprung mass is the weight that matters most. Less of it means the suspension can control the wheel far more effectively over bumps and kerbs, sharper turn-in, better mechanical grip, and less inertia fighting every input. For a change made before a single suspension component, that's massive.

• Lighter unsprung mass — the dampers do less work, so the tyre stays planted through bumps and kerbs.
• More grip to lean on — proper width and a track-focused footprint the stock setup never had.
• Sharper response — less rotating inertia at each corner makes the car feel more eager to change direction.

04 — THE LOOKRight fit for the E92

Performance aside, the aesthetics matter just as much on a car like this. The combination of the V5-RS design and this sizing is a perfect match for the E92 M3 — it sits right, fills the arches, and finally gives the car the stance it deserves. We can't wait to put it to work on track.